In the ‘Fightin’ Ninth,’ Baker seeks to end Griffith’s 13-year tenure

The Democrat is running on a platform of expanding access to health care in the mostly rural 9th Congressional District.

BY: MARKUS SCHMIDT - SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 5:30 AM

For decades, Virginia’s 9th Congressional District earned the nickname “The Fightin’ Ninth” due to its fiercely contested elections. But for the last 13 years, Republican Morgan Griffith has held the seat with little opposition, solidifying his status as the incumbent.

That could change this election cycle as Democrat Karen Baker hopes to unseat the lawmaker from Salem. A native midwesterner who moved to Floyd County from South Carolina in 2014, she has spent the last seven months traveling thousands of miles criss-crossing the deeply rural and mountainous district. … Baker’s campaign centers on a nonpartisan message focused on improving access to health care — an issue critical to the region’s residents, which is why she believes she can appeal to voters across the political spectrum and break Griffith’s long-standing hold on the seat.

While Baker takes pride in her decades-long record as a public servant — first as a trial lawyer for the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration — she has never run for public office before, “except for treasurer in 11th grade, which I won,” she told The Mercury in a recent interview.

Baker decided to challenge Griffith in Virginia’s most Republican district after being approached by “some concerned Democrats who felt it was important to have a credible candidate on the ballot. And so I said, well, if not me, then who?”

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